Tag Archives: Joshua Lipana

“I’m delighted to announce that Joshua Lipana’s most recent CT Scan shows across-the-board improvements, including ‘Near complete resolution of mediastinal abnormality.’ What was a five-inch by two-inch tumor in Joshua’s chest has been reduced to scar tissue. This combined with tests showing Joshua’s bone marrow to be cancer-free means that his cancer is, by all accounts, in remission.

“Joshua, his doctors, modern technology, and the men and women who make it possible have beaten Joshua’s rare and aggressive cancer (T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma). Writing of his own part in beating this monster, Joshua says, ‘I’m rarer and more aggressive than that rare and aggressive cancer.’ Indeed he is.”

“A hearty ‘thank you!’ to everyone who has contributed to help Joshua Lipana cover the costs of his cancer treatment. . . .

“Toward inspiring more donations, let me say a few words about Joshua and why helping him is, in fact, helping yourself.

“Joshua is a warrior for liberty. He has dedicated his life to fighting for reason, egoism, and capitalism. And, in this regard, he is the most promising young man I have ever met. The reason is threefold: his ambitiousness, his intelligence, and his independence.” —CB

“I’m delighted to report that Joshua’s prognosis continues to improve. According to his doctors, chemotherapy is working, Joshua’s bone marrow is now cancer-free, and the tumor in his left lung has been reduced to a fraction of its original size.” —CB

“Joshua Lipana is battling lymphoma. You may know Joshua from his contributions to The Objective Standard magazine. We would like to help him with his mounting medical expenses by donating $50 for each “Ayn Rand Stamp Poster” purchased through September 30, 2012. Only 17 of these posters remain available. Get yours before they are gone forever and help this fine young man win his battle against this disease.” —Cordair Fine Arts

The communist insurgency known as the New People’s Army has admitted to bombing a carnival in the Philippines and injuring scores of civilians, including many children. The NPA has apologized for the civilian casualties, as if such a thing were unforeseeable when attacking a carnival.

In their effort to establish a dictatorship in the Philippines, the NPA has inflicted brutality after brutality upon the Filipino people—from perpetrating massacres, to “recruiting” children as soldiers in their cause, to destroying the property of those who refuse to bow to their collective will.

The Philippine armed forces clearly have the means to destroy the communist threat; what Filipinos and their government need is the moral resolve to allow the military do so.

If Filipinos want peace, security, and prosperity, they must come to recognize that the communist ideal of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” is morally wrong, politically wrong, and thus economically disastrous. Filipinos must demand that their government end the peace talks with the Communist Party, destroy the New People’s Army, and demand that all communist groups terminate their activities immediately or face retribution.

The NPA’s latest atrocity further underscores the urgent need for the Philippine government to destroy the communist menace.

Exciting things are happening in the flying car industry (yes, there is a flying car industry). CBS reports that Terrafugia, an American company, just conducted a successful test flight of its flying car. A Dutch company successfully tested its model in the same week. These amazing developments have the potential to drastically change the way we travel, making it easier, faster, and a lot more exciting.

Check out the videos. Here’s the Terrafugia Transition:
And here’s the Dutch model, the Pal-V:

Joshua Lipana: First off, what was it that made you decide to write Nothing Less Than Victory?

John David Lewis: When I began university teaching in 2001, I was looking for courses that could tie the ancient world to the modern, in order to bring out similarities and differences. I also wanted good reason to have my students read classical texts. A comparative course — “Warfare Ancient and Modern” — fit the bill. I decided to spend time on several events in history rather than trying to do a shallow survey. So we read Thucydides on the Peloponnesian War, Froissart on the Hundred Years War, Churchill on WWII, and the like.

The book grew out of the class. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks I realized that the single most important factor — the will to fight in America’s enemies, and the ideology fueling it — was precisely what was being evaded by our leaders, and in the media and the universities. So I decided to write up several of these events, with a view to understanding why the attacks began, and how they were ended.

My original approach was strategic, thinking that I could find a pattern of attacks and responses that could explain how wars could be ended and long-term peace established. I almost immediately realized that the real action was in the ideas — especially moral ideas — that fueled aggressors and defenders. So I changed my approach to one that focused on policy and the ideas behind a nation’s goals. How to end the ideological, social, and political support for a war became the central question that a defender must answer. Strategy and tactics must be designed to end that support.

JL: In chapter one (“To Look Without Flinching”), you describe the Persian desire to conquer the Greeks as “motivated not primarily by strategic concerns — calculations of relative power, for instance, or the need for material resources or taxes — but rather by the ideology of magnificent dominance, and that this ideology, not strategy, would dictate the size, organization, and use of military forces.” It’s funny, because the Persians seem to be singing this tune again in Iran. Do you see any parallels between the Iranians of today and their ancestors?

JDL: Yes. There are deep cultural issues involved here. Islam itself was grafted onto Persian culture, which had deep affinities for ancient Zoroastrianism. The Persian king, for instance, saw the world as divided between the areas under his rule (the world of light, of truth, and of order) versus the world not yet under his rule (the world of darkness, lies, and war). This is very similar to many Islamists today, who see the world of Islam in conflict with the world outside of Islam.

JL: In chapter three (“I Will Have My Opponent”), which is written brilliantly and is my favorite chapter, you chronicle how the Roman general Scipio defeated the brilliant Hannibal and Carthage in the Second Punic War. You also contrast him and his style with that of another prominent Roman, Fabius, and his now-immortalized “Fabian Strategy of Delay.” What do you think is the biggest lesson from Scipio’s victory that America and its allies should consider?

JDL: There may be a time to hold back from engaging with the enemy — for instance, if one is caught unawares and must regroup and rearm — but to end a war permanently, one must ultimately confront the political and cultural center of an aggressor. Fabius’ strategy may have saved the Republic from defeat — by preventing massive losses in pitched battles, and thus preventing the secession of many Italian cities from alliance with Rome — but his plan could not win the war.

JL: In the same chapter, you say, “The Romans argued about how to fight back, not whether to do so.” Although I think this spirit is still strong in America, it seems that other places are on shaky ground. Do you think Europe and some of America’s allies still have this resolve in the face of a seemingly unyielding enemy?

JDL: I don’t know. I am pessimistic overall. I think the American people could defend themselves if, in the face of another attack, their leaders properly defined the enemy and set out a plan to actually win. But we are in dire trouble if we sit here waiting for another horrific attack and then depend on leaders of the sort we have today to take us to war.

JL: Thanks so much for your time, Dr. Lewis. And thank you also for writing such an excellent book.

JDL: Thank you for speaking to me, and for your interest in my book. Never, ever surrender. Accept nothing less than victory!

***

Dr. Lewis E-mailed me—and I am boasting—that this was one of his best interviews.

Dr. John David Lewis passed away on January 3, 2012. He was a brilliant and benevolent man. He was always so full of life, as if I could see him smiling through an E-mail. John, thank you, Nothing Less Than Victory, always.